You Can't Stay Away From County For Long
by unbreakbr0ken
Summary: The ER gets some unexpected news, Carter is coming back from Africa. Carby! COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

_Dear ER gang:_

_It's John. Things haven't been going so well with me and Kem. I think we are breaking up… _

_Scratch that we broke up… its gonna take a while for me to pack everything up, I think I'm gonna come back to Chicago. I'll fill you in on the details when I get there… I missed Chicago and County and I'm happy to be coming back. See you when I'm done packing… I still have to go get my plane ticket, then I'm flying back to Chicago._

_-John_

The letter came about a week ago. Everyone was surprised, that is except for Abby. Deep inside she knew it would happen. She wanted John to be happy, but she knew that he would never be completely happy with Kem. She didn't want to admit it, but it was the truth. John hadn't come back yet, and everyone just assumed he had to deal with some unfinished business.

As John got on the plane, he knew he was doing the right thing. Kem had lied to him, and not just a little lie, but a big one. He knew that if she really loved him, she wouldn't have lied like that, she wouldn't have done what she had done, but she did, and it was over. John sat down in his seat. He thought about Chicago and County. He hoped that they got his letter he sent about 10 days ago. As he thought about County, his thoughts drifted over to Abby. He wondered if she was still going out with Jake.

Abby sat down at the front desk. The day was going by slowly, and hardly any traumas had come in. In fact, almost everyone was slacking off, even Susan. Abby thought about Jake, and how he was doing in California. Jake got offered a job there, a good one that he couldn't let down. He wanted to stay in Chicago, but Abby wouldn't let him. She didn't want him to put his career on hold because of her, she had told him, but the truth was that she secretly wished that somehow Carter would come back. Now that Carter was actually coming back, Abby didn't know what to think. Had she wished so much for Carter to come back that he broke up with Kem? Abby didn't know what to do, but she knew that if she secretly wished for Carter to come back, she must still have feelings for him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Carter walked into County; it was his first day back. It had taken a while to persuade Weaver to give him his old job back, but in the end she did. Overall he was happy to be back. He looked around the ER and noticed how some things never changed, and how some things were so completely different from how he had left them. He walked up to admit, and saw Frank, who greeted him.

"So you're back from France, huh?" said Frank in his usual tone.

"Uh, yeah, didn't you see the letter?" replied Carter.

"Yeah, but you know me, I didn't believe it was really you." Frank says.

Carter chuckles, he never realized how much he missed everyone here, no matter how annoying they got. He greets everyone else, and goes into the lounge to put all of his stuff into his locker. It isn't until he closes his locker door that he realizes he hasn't seen Abby yet.

As soon as Carter steps out of the lounge he hears Susan say to him "Come on Carter, we've got two MVAs coming in!" Carter runs to the nearest trauma room to go help out. As he steps in he sees a little girl who has been badly injured. He jumps in to help, barely noticing who else is working on the little girl.

"Charging to 200!" yells someone, and Carter steps away from the little girl along with everyone else in the room.

A while later, Dr. Lewis steps into the trauma room. "How longs she been down?" she asks.

Chuny replies, "forty-five minutes."

"Just call it," Dr. Lewis says, sounding disappointed.

"Time of death: 8:42."

Carter looks to see who called the time of death and realizes that it is Abby. It is at that time that Abby notices Carter is in the room. As everyone else leaves the room, Carter and Abby continue to stare at each other; both dumbfound by the others presence. Abby finally speaks up, "I… I… didn't know you were back."

"Well I didn't know you were on," says Carter.

They both just stand there, neither knowing what to say. "I should probably go talk to the girl's parents," says Abby, breaking the silence as she walks out of the trauma room leaving Carter standing there motionless.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

It's the end of the day, and Carter sees Abby leaving the ER and walking to the El. He runs to catch up her. "Hey," he says. Abby says "hi," and they continue to walk.

"So today… was kinda awkward…," says Carter.

"Yeah, I didn't expect you to be back so soon."

"Well, you can't stay away from County for too long." Carter says jokingly. Abby laughs.

"So, do you wanna go get coffee or something?" he asks her.

"I kinda can't…" Abby says.

Carter replies, sounding disappointed, "Oh… maybe some other time then." He starts to walk away.

Abby realizes that Carter thinks she doesn't want to go get coffee with him, and decides to tell him the truth. "Carter, the only reason I can't go is because I have to go feed Max." Abby says, smiling.

_Oh shit, so she does have a boyfriend_, Carter thinks to himself. "Max?" Carter asks, questioningly.

"My dog," Abby says, laughing.

Carter starts to laugh too. "You got a dog? I haven't really pictured you as a dog kinda person."

"Yeah, me neither." Abby says. "But you know they are just so cute when they're puppies…"

"…so you caved in and got one?"

"No actually Eric gave him to me as a birthday present. He gets worried about me and figured I needed a watch dog," Abby smiles, while Carter listens. "He is the worst watch dog though, he is too friendly." Abby and Carter continue to walk towards the El.

"So, maybe we can get coffee another time, like when Max doesn't need to be fed?" Carter asks.

"I'll hold you to that," says Abby, as she walks off to go home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

A few days later Abby is going to work. It is the morning, so she is free to do what ever because Max has already been taken care of. She sees Carter walking into the ER. "Hey Carter!" she yells. Carter turns around. "How about that coffee?" she says. Carter starts walking towards Abby. They decide to go to Doc Magoo's.

Carter and Abby sit down at a table. They both order a coffee. "So if you don't mind me asking, what happened with you and Kem?" asks Abby.

"It's kinda… its complicated." Carter says. Abby sees that this upsets him a little, and decides to refrain from asking anymore questions about Kem. This doesn't stop her growing curiosity about the situation though. "So tell me about Max," Carter says, as their coffees come.

Abby takes a sip of her coffee. "He's a poodle. A black poodle. A big black poodle." Abby laughs. She still can't believe she has a dog. The whole dog thing was funny, especially because she never pictured herself as a pet person, but then again Max was like her new best friend.

"What's so funny?" Carter asks.

"Just me… having a pet. Remember when I had to take care of those fish in the ER?"

At this point, Carter starts laughing too. He remembers that all too clearly. "Wow that was like… four years ago."

"Yeah." Abby says smiling, thinking about the fish she had to take care of. It was nice talking to Carter like this, and remembering all the good times they had together. She wished they could have that again.

_If only she knew that Carter felt the same way…_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

"So what's up with you and Abby?" Susan asks Carter. They are both in the lounge getting ready to leave from a very busy shift.

"Nothing, why?" Carter says trying to hide the feelings he has for Abby.

"Oh, come on Carter. I see the way you look at her. And then this morning when you two came walking into the ER together, giggling and laughing. I know there's something there Carter, don't try to deny it," Susan says smiling. She starts to walk out of the lounge as Carter tries to protest.

A few seconds later, Abby walks into the lounge. "What was that about?" she asks, as she walks over to her locker.

"Oh, nothing…" Carter says, trying to think of something, _anything_ to say to change the subject, but he has no such luck.

"Carter, do you realize I heard like that whole conversation?"

"So you're spying on me?" Carter asks, sounding amused.

"No, accidentally listening in…"

"You can't accidentally listen in on something," he says smiling and trying to hide his embarrassment. He doesn't want Abby to know that he has feelings for her, not after what he did to her.

"Yes you can."

"How?"

"You accidentally walk over to the lounge so you can accidentally listen in on a conversation." Abby says jokingly.

"That doesn't sound accidentally."

"Well it is." Abby says smiling.

"And how is that?"

"Cause I have fascinating accidentally listening-in abilities, and your just jealous because you don't," Abby says, laughing and smiling as she leaves the lounge.

Carter follows her, now wanting to finish this conversation, so matter how ridiculous it got. "Well you must be pretty special, to have fascinating accidentally listening-in abilities, as you put it."

"I am," says Abby lightheartedly in her most confident voice.

_You are special_, Carter thinks subconsciously as Abby walks away to go home.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

Abby turns around. She decides that if there ever were a time to invite Carter over it should be now, its not like he had anyone, or anything (Abby had Max at least) to go home to. "Hey Carter!" she yells.

"Hey what?" Carter yells back.

"I think I have someone you aught to meet."

"And who would that be?" Carter asks.

"_What_ would that be," Abby says correcting him.

"Max?" he asks.

"Yeah, come on!" she says, motioning Carter to come over.

They both run over to the El, not wanting to miss it. Abby grabs Carter's hand and starts pulling him along faster. Carter tries to keep up with Abby and how spontaneous she could be. They board the El and sit down next to each other. The ride there is quiet.

They step off the El and start to walk to Abby's place. "Well I didn't think I'd be walking to your place tonight," Carter says, breaking the silence.

"Why what'd you think you'd be doing? It couldn't have been anything more exciting than this," Abby says cheerfully.

"That's true." Carter replies, as Abby tries to find the key to her apartment door. She finds the key and puts it in the lock and opens up the door. A big bouncy poodle comes bounding towards them.

"Hey Max," Abby says as she steps into her apartment. Carter follows in after her and goes to take off his jacket. "I'd leave that on if I were you."

"Why?" asks Carter.

"Cause now its time to go walk Max," Abby says as she looks around for the dog leash. Carter finds it and picks it up. He hands it to Abby who then hooks it to Max's collar. Max waits patiently as Abby goes to open up the door.

"That was a long walk," Carter says, sounding tired.

"Yeah well if Max is gonna have a walk, it might as well be a nice long one. He insists on that actually," Abby says smiling. She notices that when she's around Carter she smiles and laughs more. _That's because when I'm around Carter I'm happy_, she thinks.

Carter chuckles, he likes Max and is glad that Abby has someone around to keep her company, even if it is a dog. Abby goes to the kitchen area to make tea. Carter goes to sit on the sofa as Max follows him and jumps on right next to where Carter is sitting. "He likes you," Abby says, as Carter pats Max's furry head.

"So how do you like being back?" Abby asks as she sits down across from Carter.

"It's good to be back. I missed Chicago, and you know things weren't really working out with Kem. And then we broke up, and I really had nowhere else to go. There was no point staying in France."

"John, if you don't mind me asking…" Abby says, hinting that she wants him to share what really happened with Kem.

"Sure go ahead, eventually you will probably find out," Carter says, almost falling apart.

"No, its okay… I can tell you don't really want to talk about it just yet."

"Yeah… and thanks for not pushing it, I just don't think I'm ready for everyone to know yet," Carter says, as he gets up to go leave. Abby also gets up to go walk him towards the door. Max stays on the sofa, laying down there sleepily.

"Bye," Carter says, trying to sound more cheerful than he was a few moments ago. Abby opens the door. Before Carter leaves they kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Abby closes the door as Carter leaves. She leans back against the door, half not believing what just happened. Carter had kissed her, and well she kissed Carter too. She was happy and confused at the same time. She didn't know why she was confused though, it shouldn't have been that surprising. She had heard the conversation between him and Susan a few days ago so why was she so stunned that Carter had just kissed her?

Carter stares at Abby's apartment door for a minute, then turns around to leave. Part of him was telling him that he should give the relationship a try, and the other half was telling him that maybe it wasn't the right time to start a relationship, with Abby nonetheless. He decides to refrain from thinking that and walks towards the El to go home.

The next day Carter and Abby tried to avoid each other as much as possible. Neither of them knew what to do or say, so when they met up in the medicine supply closet, they just stood there in an awkward state of silence. "Hey," Abby says.

"Hi," Carter says back. They are both kind of quiet, wondering if the other is going to bring up what happened the night before.

"So last night…" Abby finally says.

"Was different," Carter suggests.

"I was gonna say unexpected, but nice."

"Just _nice_?"

"Well what do you want me to say? What happened was the last thing I expected to happen."

"Oh come on, you said it yourself you heard Susan and me talking."

"Yeah… so?"

"Why is this so surprising to you Abby?"

"I don't know. I thought you were happy. I thought you were with Kem. I thought we were over Carter. I thought we were _completely_ over. Then all of a sudden you're not with her and your back here and I realize that we are not over. I realize that all this time I was trying to convince myself that I was over you that I really wasn't, and now were not over, and I'm just really, really confused." Abby slows down. "I … I think I just need some time to think about all of this, okay?"

"Okay, take all the time you need," Carter says calmly.

"Thanks," Abby says as she turns around to leave. It isn't until she is at admit that she realizes she didn't get what she needed from the supply closet.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

A few hours later Abby has finally calmed down. She goes into the lounge, only to find Carter. "Hey, sorry about my rambling… I was just…"

Carter cuts her off. "Confused? Yeah I know, and I'm sorry about all of that."

"It's okay." Abby pauses. "We're okay right?"

"Yeah, we're okay. We're okay right?"

Abby laughs. "Yes, we are okay," she says, reassuring him. They hug. Carter wraps his arms around Abby. She looks up at him. "You know we should really talk about this, us, whatever you want to call it."

"Yeah. Um, how about tonight. When are you off?" Carter asks.

"Seven. You?"

"Same. How about we go get something to eat. We can talk about this, us, whatever." Carter suggests.

"Sure, that sounds great. I'll meet you in the lounge then at seven."

"Okay. Don't be late!" Carter says as Abby starts to leave.

"You know how it gets here, sometimes you can never leave!" Abby yells back. Carter smiles, he knows that Abby is right.

Abby looks at the clock. It's five to seven. "GSW coming in about a minute!" somebody yells. _Shoot_, Abby thinks. _I will never be able to get out of here on time_. She looks around and spots Carter, who is thinking the same thing. Just then, a gurney comes flying in with the gun shot victim. Abby and Carter rush over. They go over the patient's vitals, and then start wheeling him to a trauma room. "I told you one can never leave this place on time!" Abby yells over the commotion to Carter.

About an hour and one stable gang member later, Abby and Carter leave to go get something to eat and talk.

"There's nowhere to go eat at this time." Abby says complaining. She is starting to get hungry.

"Come on, we'll go to my place. I'll cook something up."

"Are you sure?"

"Yea, come on," Carter says.

"I meant if you could cook," Abby replies, following Carter to his Jeep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

They get into Carter's Jeep. "I can't believe you still have this thing." Abby says as she closes the door.

"I've grown attached to it." Carter says jokingly, as he starts the engine and starts to drive to his house.

Abby sets the table as Carter cooks dinner. It's quiet in Carter's house with no one around but them. "How can you live in such a big house with no one else around?" Abby asks.

"I don't know. It gets quiet sometimes. Too quiet, you know."

"Aren't we supposed to be talking about us, or if there is an us?" Abby says, getting to the point.

"I don't know. You're the one who suggested we talk."

"So let's talk." Abby says as she sits down.

"Okay." Carter sits down across from Abby.

"So are we an us?" Abby asks.

"Do you want to be an us?" Carter asks back.

"Do you?"

"I asked you first." Carter says. He wants an answer, and soon. Because lately he has been thinking a lot about Abby, and a lot about what they could be.

"I don't know, it's complicated. We have a complicated past." Abby says. Carter wishes Abby would stop beating around the bush and just give him a straight answer. He is getting impatient, and it is getting harder to be so close to her and not be able to have what they had.

Carter decides to just come out and say what's on his mind, it would make this so much more faster he decides. "I think we should give it another chance. This whole Kem thing has made me realize that I was wrong to leave you. It made me realize that I want to be with you, more than anything right now. It made me realize that this time around, we should try harder to make this work, because I want it to work. I want to be with you Abby."

Abby stares at him. She is shocked, and didn't expect this kind of speech from Carter. Finally she speaks up. "I want to be with you too." She says it quietly, but Carter hears her. He smiles, and she smiles back.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

Abby wakes up. She opens her eyes and realizes that she isn't in her own bed. The memories of last night come back to her. She looks at the clock. It's late, and she needs to be getting to work soon. She turns over and sees Carter, still sleeping. She shakes him a little to wake him up. "Carter!" she whispers. Carter rolls over, mumbling something. "It's late; we need to get to work."

"Shoot, what time is it?" he asks her. Abby tells him the time. Carter lays in bed, while Abby gets up to go get ready as best as she can because she doesn't have enough time to go home and get ready. A few minutes later Abby walks out of the bathroom. Carter gets up to go in and get ready. Abby is getting dressed when she hears Carter ask her something, but she can't hear him because the bathroom door is closed.

"What?" she asks.

"I said did you use my toothbrush!"

"Yeah." Abby replies.

"Why?"

"I needed to brush my teeth with _something_, even if it was your nasty toothbrush."

"My toothbrush isn't nasty."

"Sure, whatever you say." Abby says teasingly, as she continues to get ready.

Carter and Abby arrive at work in Carter's Jeep. Carter gets out, and so does Abby who stays behind.

"Are you coming?" he asks her.

"In a minute."

"Why?" Carter asks as he walks towards Abby.

"Cause if we walk in there at the same time, people are gonna start assuming things." Abby states.

"Like what?"

"Like we're together, like we slept together, you know those kind of things." Abby can't believe she has to explain this to Carter.

"But we are together, and we did sleep together, so what's the problem?" Carter says, getting worried.

"I don't know, I just didn't think you wanted us to go all public." she says. "And so soon." She then adds in.

"Well if you want to keep this a secret…"

"No, its okay. It's just everything's going a little fast."

"Okay, so we will go slower."

"Okay." Abby says as she walks towards the door. "Are you coming?" she asks.

"But I thought…"

"Never mind, just come on!" she yells. Carter runs over. They hold hands as they walk inside.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

A few people see them together, but they don't expect anything just yet, that is except for Susan. They walk into the lounge, and Susan follows them because the ER is having a slow a day, but mostly because she wants to make sure if her suspicions are correct.

"Hey." Susan says. Carter and Abby both say hi to Susan. "So are you guys…?" she asks in her best I-want-to-know-what's-going-on-with-you-two voice.

"Yes." Carter says. He knows he can trust Susan.

"But don't go around telling everyone." Abby says; just to make sure Susan doesn't have the entire ER staff gossiping about them.

"Okay," Susan says smiling. "Oh and congratulations. I hope it works out this time." She tells the two of them.

Abby and Carter thank her as she leaves the lounge to go check up on a patient. They know they can always count on Susan to keep things quiet or just be there as a friend. They are both glad they have a friend like her.

Carter and Abby both open their lockers and get ready for a long shift. They start to walk towards the lounge door when they hear they loud sound of gurney wheels rolling down the hallway. They run out of the lounge to help with the trauma patients. _And here I thought it was gonna be a slow day_, Abby thinks. "Two stab wounds to the chest. Didn't have time to get one of the stabbing tools out." Abby looks down and sees a knife coming out of a man who is about in his thirties. The EMTs continue to shout out the stab wound victim's vitals as they wheel him into trauma one.

A quick thirty minutes later the patient is stable and being sent up to the OR. The only people left in the trauma room are Abby and Susan. "That was different, usually we don't get to experience the fun time of pulling he knife out of a stab wound victim," Abby says sarcastically. Susan rolls her eyes. They got some crazy patients here at County. "So how are things with you and Carter?"

"Good. Why?" Abby asks.

"Just curious. Cause I was talking to him a few days ago about you two…"

"Yeah I heard," Abby says, chuckling as she remembers her and Carter's conversation after he realized she had been listening in on him and Susan.

"You did? You're kidding." Susan says. She didn't mean for Abby to hear that conversation. She just wanted to get through to Carter first.

"No I'm not. It's kind of how this whole thing with Carter started, with me listening in on you two."

Susan smiles. "So if this works out with you two, do I get all the credit?" Susan asks happily.

"Sure why not." Abby responds as she walks to the trauma room door to leave.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

Abby finally gets a chance to leave her hectic place of employment. It's late at night and Carter's shift ended two hours ago. She had to go home and take care of Max because her neighbor was taking care of him while she was at Carter's the night before. She rides the El home, and only a few people are on it. She walks up to her apartment and opens the door. Max comes up to her wagging his tail, because he hasn't seen her for a while.

Abby takes care of Max, and then goes to the refrigerator to find something to eat. _There isn't much food in the place,_ Abby thinks. _I guess leftover pizza will have to do._ She takes out the pizza and goes to heat it up. Once it's done she goes over and sits on the couch and flicks on the TV. She keeps thinking of Carter, and what he's up to at the moment. _Tonight is gonna be a long night_, she thinks because she can't seem to get Carter out of her mind.

Five minutes later, and thoughts totally consumed with Carter, Abby decides to call him. She picks up the phone and dials his number. The phone rings. Once, twice, three times, until Carter picks up. "Hello?" he says in a sleepy voice.

"Hey, it's Abby. Did I wake you? Sorry if I did."

"No, no it's okay. It's good to hear your voice."

Abby smiles. _It's cute how Carter says little things like 'It's good to hear your voice,' and it makes me so happy, _Abby thinks.

"So why did you call?"

"I kept thinking about you," Abby admits.

Carter laughs a little. Abby wonders why. "Same here," Carter says. "I finally fell asleep after hours of thinking about you, and then you call." Carter smiles.

"Why didn't you call me?" Abby asks.

"I figured you were still at work – and I did call, didn't you check your messages?"

"Nope, how can I check messages when the only thing on my mind is you Dr. Carter?" Abby says jokingly.

"Good answer, Dr. Lockhart."

"I think its time for me to check my messages Dr. Carter."

"Good-night Abby."

"Night Carter," she says and she hangs up the phone.

Abby goes to her answering machine. The first message starts playing. It's from Maggie. "Hey Abby, just wanted to see what you were up to, I haven't seen you in a while. I guess call me back so we can get caught up on things. Love you." Abby writes down on the post-it next to her answering machine to call her mother. The next message starts playing just as she gets done writing. "Uh, hey it's Carter. I guess you're at work still, I'll call back later." "It's Carter again. I guess you're still at work. Just wanted to see what you were up to and stuff. Uh, yeah I guess I'll go now. Bye." "It's me, yet again. You're obviously still at work, can't get away from that place, eh?" Abby can't believe how many times Carter has called, but likes knowing that someone wonders where she is. And yet another message comes. "Um, I just called County and Frank said you left, so I guess just call me back, or I'll see you tomorrow at work or something. Bye, I love you." There is a pause after that and the message ends. That was the final message_. I guess Carter was thinking about me a lot_, Abby thinks smiling. It's late, so she decides to go to bed.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

Carter wakes up early. Really early. He decides to stop by Abby's place to see if she wanted to go to work together. He gets ready and leaves his house.

Abby is just getting ready to leave for work when she hears knock at the door. "Come in!" she yells as she searches for her keys. She then remembers that the door is locked and goes to open it. She opens the door and greets Carter with a kiss.

"You come bearing coffee." Abby notices.

"Yeah well I was up early, and had nothing to do, so I decided to drop by your place. Figured we can go to work together or something."

Abby smiles. She loves it when Carter does little things like that. Carter hands her a coffee. "Thanks," she says.

The next thing Abby and Carter knew was that they were both in bed together, kissing passionately. Abby rolls over and looks at the clock. "Shit," she says as she starts to get up. "We are gonna be so late." At this time Carter gets up too. They both start to get dressed, and then run out the door to Carter's Jeep.

As they arrive at County, they both jump out of the car. They are both twenty minutes late and Weaver was on today. "Do I look okay?" Abby asks him.

"Yeah, sure," Carter says, walking fast to the door.

"I mean do I look like we just had sex," Abby says as they run through the ambulance bay.

"I don't know, do I?" Carter asks. Abby looks at him then fixes his hair.

"That's better," she says. "Now let's go endure Weaver's wrath." She says, staring into Carter's eyes and smiling. They kiss before they walk through the ER doors.

As soon as they walk into the ER, they hear Weaver. "Do you two realize you are both half an hour late!"

"Sorry!" they both say as they start running to the lounge to avoid Weaver.

"Hey! Get back here! I'm not done yet!" Kerry yells as she starts to follow them.

"Shit Carter we are so screwed." Abby says quietly as the open their lockers. Weaver comes barging in.

"When you're schedule says your shift starts at 7:30, it means you are here at 7:30, not eight!" she screams.

"Okay, were sorry, it wont ever happen again," Abby tells Weaver.

"It better not," Weaver says as she walks out of the lounge, calming down.

"See what happens when you come to pick me up!" Abby tells Carter, as she playfully hits him on the arm. Carter just laughs as Abby leaves the lounge to start helping patients.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14:**

"So you and Carter, eh?" asks Samantha Taggart as Abby comes out of the lounge.

"Uh, yeah," Abby says.

"Well congrats," Sam says. "Shoot, I gotta go help with this trauma, talk to you later!" she yells as she walks down the hall to the trauma room.

"Okay, how about coffee!" Abby yells back.

"Okay, whenever you're free!" Sam yells back as she opens the trauma room doors. Abby goes up to admit and grabs some charts.

"So you and Carter? Again?" asks Frank.

"Yea," Abby replies as she wonders how everyone knows about her current relationship with Carter. She shakes those thoughts from her mind as she goes to take care of the ER's many patients.

"So you and that Carter guy?" asks a little smirking boy Abby is taking care of.

"Okay, how do you know that?" she asks him, getting a little angry. The boy just giggles as Abby finishes up taking care of him. Abby leaves her patients for a minute to go find out how everyone knows about her and Carter. "Okay Frank, just tell me, how the hell do you know about me and Carter?" Frank laughs and just walks away from her shaking his head. She didn't care if the ER staff knew about her and Carter, but when little patients starting questioning her about it, she was bound to know something was up.

After taking care of some more patients, Abby decides to go find Carter to see if he was getting the same questions as she was. To her surprise, she can't find him anywhere. She asks Chuny if she's seen him, and she just tells her she hasn't, but is surprised that Abby hasn't noticed anything. As Abby wonders about this she picks up some charts, completely oblivious to what was written on the clear patient board at admit.

It isn't until about an hour later when Abby checks the patient board to see where one of her patients went that she sees it. In a big red heart is written 'Abby, I have something to ask you, Love Carter. P.S meet me on the roof when you see this.' She looks at it, becoming a little confused. She asks Frank when this was written. "About three hours ago, took ya a while to see it eh?" Abby just stares at the board, wondering what Carter could mean by this.

"Well whats you waiting for, go up there!" Frank says. Abby stands there until Frank gives her a little push. She starts running out of the ER and towards the elevator, wondering what Carter is up to. She waits by the elevator, frantically pushing the up button, even though she has pressed it about fifty times already. Finally the door opens. Abby runs in the elevator practically before everyone is out. "Sorry!" she says as she pushes by them.

Abby pushes the button in the elevator to go up to the roof. She watches the numbers go up and the elevator carries her up to the roof. It seems like forever, but finally she arrives and the elevator doors open. "John…?" she asks.

"Don't say anything just yet."

"But…"

"Abby, will you marry me?"

"But..."

"Just hear me out." Abby doesn't say anything, and Carter goes on. "I know it's soon, but we don't have to have the wedding just yet-"

"John," Carter stops. "Yes."

"Yes?" Carter asks.

"Yes!" Abby says, a big grin appearing on her face. Carter puts the ring on her finger, and Abby goes and hugs him, staying in his arms, wanting to stay like that forever. The next thing Abby hears is clapping coming from the elevator. She looks at the elevator, which is now open, full of the staff from the ER smiling and congratulating her.

"We're engaged!" Abby shrieks, showing them her ring. They all smile and give her lots of hugs.

"You're gonna be such a pretty bride!" Susan says as the elevator door closes and the rest of the ER staff go down to take care of things and leave Abby and Carter alone. Once the door is closed, Abby goes and jumps into Carter's arms. "I can't believe this…" Abby says.

"I can't believe you didn't notice my message!" Carter says teasingly. Abby smiles and kisses Carter. He kisses her back as they walk towards the elevator, which has just come back up.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

"So you guys all knew about this?" Abby asks everyone at admit a while later, still smiling. She still can't believe how clueless she was this morning.

"Yeah, took us a while to catch on, but eventually we did. Just can't believe you didn't!" Sam says jokingly.

Things were going slow in the ER at the moment, so Abby asks Sam if she still wants to go get coffee and talk about whatever. Sam agrees and they walk over to Doc Magoo's.

"So today was an eventful day," Sam says, sitting down at a table in the diner across the street from the ER.

"Yeah," Abby says smiling, "The only thing that worries me is Kem," Abby says, her smile fading away.

"Why do you think she is gonna come back or something?" asks Sam.

"No, it's just… do you know why they broke up?"

"No."

"That's exactly it. He won't tell anybody, not even me. And I know its something big. He almost gave up his life here to go be with her, and then all of a sudden he's back. Something big happened Sam, I just know it."

"Why don't you just ask him about it?"

"I have, and he gets all upset."

A few minutes pass by without the two of them saying anything. Then, all of a sudden Sam realizes something. "Luka knows," she tells Abby.

"What?"

"I think Luka knows why they broke up."

"What? How?"

"Before Carter came back, Luka got a separate letter from him. It was mailed to our place not the ER. It was a long letter, and for some odd reason Luka didn't let me read it. I didn't think much of it then, but now that I'm thinking about it, the letter must have contained something John didn't want anyone else to know. Something about why he was coming back."

Abby stares at Sam, her mouth wide open. "We have to get that letter," she says.

"I know," Sam replies. Even though she knows that she shouldn't look at that letter, she knows she has to find it. It was the only way to help Abby, and Abby was her best friend. Luka might get angry, and well Carter would to, but she had to find that letter. It was the only way to help Abby and Carter.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16:**

A few hours later, Sam and Abby run out of the ER. It was getting dark outside, and they had only a little time to run to Sam and Luka's place to find that letter. They run to the door and quickly open it. "Do you have any clue where this is?" Abby asks.

"Nope."

"Great," Abby says sarcastically. "How do you know he didn't shred it or something?" she asks more seriously.

"Cause' we don't have a shredder."

"Oh." Abby says, "I guess we don't get to tape little strings of paper together then," she says joking. Sam giggles as they go into the kitchen and start to look through all of the papers there. "I don't think he put it in the kitchen," Abby says after they have looked through everything.

"Yeah. Let's go look in our room then, he might have put it somewhere in there."

They walk into Sam and Luka's room. The place is messy, but they step in and start looking around. "Under the mattress," Abby says. "Isn't that where people always put things to keep them safe?"

Sam walks over to the bed, and Abby follows her. They pick up the mattress. "See anything?" Sam asks.

"Nope," Abby responds, sounding disappointed.

"Okay, let's look in his dresser; he could have hid it in there."

Abby stares at Sam. "What?" Sam asks.

"Nothing, its just weird going through another guy's underwear drawer," Abby says giggling.

"Fine, I'll take the underwear you take the sock drawer."

"Socks?" Abby asks, sounding disgusted.

"Do you want to find this letter or not?" Sam asks her. Abby reluctantly goes over to the bureau and starts looking through the sock drawer.

A while later and no letter found the two are about ready to give up. "There's one more place to look." Sam says.

"Where?" Abby asks sounding exhausted.

The two go into the little room set up as an office. There are papers everywhere. "I don't usually come in here." Sam admits.

"I don't blame you," Abby says looking around at all the papers. "Okay, someone takes the desk, and someone takes that… pile." Abby says giggling some more. The place was so messy it was kind of funny. Sam starts laughing too.

After searching and searching through the messy little room, they both find nothing. Abby is getting disappointed. "Are you done looking around the desk?" Abby asks Sam.

"Yeah," Sam says in a very disappointed voice. They walk out of the little room. Alex is out there watching TV. _If anyone is to know where that letter is besides Luka, it would probably be Alex, _Sam thinks. "Alex!" Sam screams. Abby and Alex both jump back. Sam runs over to Alex, Abby following her.

"Alex, we need to ask you something," Sam asks seriously.

"Okay," Alex mumbles half paying attention to his mother.

"Alex, pay attention," Sam says loudly to direct his attention towards her. Alex looks at her and Abby with that what-could-you-possibly-want-from-me look.

"Alex, have you ever seen Luka with a letter?" Abby asks trying to calm down.

"Yeah, every time he picks up the mail," Alex says turning towards the television.

"Alex!" Sam yells, getting angry. Alex sits up and listens. Sam describes what she could remember when she saw the envelope. "Did you ever see Luka take the letter out, read it, take it somewhere, anything?" Sam asks her son. Alex thinks. He can vaguely remember Luka taking something in an envelope to work.

"I think…" Alex begins to say, then stops.

"Come on Alex, just try to remember." Sam says.

"A while ago, I was down here watching TV and eating breakfast. It was morning, and Luka was carrying something. It looked like and envelope. I asked what it was and he just ignored me and said bye and walked out the door to go to work."

Just as Alex finishes, Abby screams "His locker!"


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17:**

After a few minutes of complete silence, Abby says "Shit!" She sounds frustrated, and she is.

"We don't have time to go back to County," Sam says quietly.

"I know," Abby says, calming down. "You think it's possible to go in early?" she asks.

"How the hell are we going to break into his locker?" Sam asks.

"I don't know..." Abby mumbles. She slumps onto Sam's sofa. _There's no way we are gonna find that letter,_ she thinks.

"Let's just go early, maybe we can find someone who has a key, or try to guess the combination or something," Sam suggests.

"Yeah, I guess it's worth a try," Abby says, going to leave. She gets home and opens her apartment door. She takes care of Max, and then tries to get some sleep. Every thirty minutes she would wake up though, and when she was sleeping, she was tossing and turning. She had to know what that letter said.

After hours of trying to get sleep, Abby decides to get up. She goes to the kitchen to make some coffee and feed Max. A little while later she is heading out the door on her way to County early, just like Sam is. As she is walking through the ambulance bay she sees Sam. They walk in together and go to the lounge.

"Now what?" asks Abby. Sam just shrugs her shoulders and goes over to Luka's locker. She plays with the combination for a while, until she gives up when she can't get it open.

"Come on," Sam says as she walks out of the lounge. Abby follows her, wondering what she's up to. "Hey Jerry!"

Jerry turns around when he hears Sam's voice.

"I have a question," Sam states, as Jerry listens to her.

"If someone happens to forget, say their locker combination… How would they get their locker open?"

"Why you forget yours?"

"Um, sure I guess we can say that," Sam says trying to not sound like she's lying. Abby just waits behind her smirking.

"Okay, just let me get the key, you can open it that way and reset the combination." Jerry says, bending down to get the key. Sam smiles at Abby.

"Um, Jerry, does that key work on all of the lockers?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just wondering," Sam says.

Jerry starts walking towards the lounge. Abby gives Sam a what-do-we-do-now? sort of look.

"You know Jerry, you're probably busy, and I'm not on yet, I think I can figure this out by myself," Sam tells Jerry.

"Okay, if you need any help, you know where I am," Jerry tells Sam.

Sam walks away smirking with the key, with Abby follows her. "I can't believe you did that!" Abby says. When they walk into the lounge Weaver is there, so they hang out, pretending to get coffee until she leaves. When Weaver does leave, Abby and Sam start laughing.

"You open the locker, I'll go guard the door," Abby tells Sam.

"Okay, good idea." Sam says as she walks over to Luka's locker. She fumbles with the key, but finally manages to get the locker open. She starts looking around in it, until Abby screams, "Someone's coming!"


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18:**

Sam slams the locker door closed. The lounge door starts to open. Sam and Abby just stare at the door, not moving. In walks Morris, and Sam and Abby both let out a sigh of relief. Morris ignores them, and neither of the two girls say a thing until he leaves. "That was close," Abby says.

"Yeah," Sam replies, going over to Luka's locker to open it. She opens it and starts looking around.

"Find anything yet?" Abby asks.

"Not yet." Sam keeps looking. She finally looks on the top shelf and sees it – an envelope addressed to her and Luka's place from Africa. "Found it!" she says. Abby runs over as Sam carefully takes the letter out of the envelope. She unfolds the paper, and she and Abby start to read it.

_Luka- _

_I'm coming home, back to Chicago. You probably know that already, but what you don't know is why. Kem and I broke up. Actually I broke up with her. It involves something with the past and a really big lie. I'm gonna tell you why when I come back, but you're the only one I'm gonna tell. I don't want anyone else to know, and after I tell you, you will probably understand why. Just wanted to update you on everything, cause your one of the few people I can trust along with Abby, but she doesn't need to know what happened, and neither does anyone else.. I'm probably gonna start rambling now, so I'll just end this letter. –John_

After reading the letter, Abby looks incredibly disappointed. Sam sees her disappointment, and says, "Come on," grabbing Abby's hand to pull her along. Abby follows reluctantly.

"Luka Kovac!" Sam screams at the top of her lungs across admit. She is getting frustrated, which makes her temper flare up. Luka looks up, surprised. He walks over to an anger stricken Sam and a depressed looking Abby.

Completely clueless, he asks, "What?"

"Come here," Sam says, raising her voice a little. She grabs his wrist and pulls him to the privacy of the supply closet. "Tell her," Sam says pointing to Abby. Luka gives Sam a clueless look. "About why Carter and Kem broke up."

"What? I don't know why they broke up," he says, trying to sound like he has no clue what they are talking about.

"Yes you do," she says, shoving the letter towards him.

"How did you get that?" he asks.

"Luka, please tell Abby why they broke up. She needs to know. She is afraid if she doesn't find out, that there is a possibility Kem might come back, or Kem and Carter will get back together, if you tell her, she can talk to Carter about and get things straightened out."

"I can't."

Abby is still standing there silently. "Why not?" Sam asks.

"Abby, I want to help you, and I would do anything to help you, but I can't do this. Carter told me something that was confidential; I'm not willing to break his trust-"

"So instead Abby and Carters relationship can go into the gutter?" Sam says cutting him off.

"No, I don't want that to happen-"

"Then just tell us!" Sam says.

"I can't, but I can talk to Carter for you if you want, see if I can convince him to talk to you," he says, looking towards Abby. He starts to leave.

"Thanks," Abby says quietly as Luka walks towards the exit.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19:**

Abby is able to make it through the day. Just when she's leaving she sees Luka talking to Carter. Carter looks upset. She didn't want to think about Carter and his problems right now, because she knew she would break down if she did, so she leaves before saying goodbye to him.

Abby is getting ready to go to bed when she hears a knock on the door. She walks over and opens it. She sees John standing there, still looking upset. "We need to talk about something," Carter says. Abby opens the door some more to let him in.

Carter walks in. Abby tells him to sit down, and she takes a seat across from him. "So?" she asks.

Carter begins. "I was a little pissed when you talked to Luka and convinced him to talk to me, but then I realized I might as well tell you now rather than later, because eventually I would have to tell you, and you deserve to know." Abby nods and Carter continues. "What I'm gonna tell you is shocking, and I'm trusting you not to tell anyone."

"John, you can trust me."

"I know that's why I'm telling you this," he says, as he takes her hands to hold. He pauses, not sure how to go on.

"John-" Abby says, not wanting to push him.

"No, this is something I have to tell you." He pauses. "I broke up with Kem because she cheated on me." Abby looks at John, she was expecting something bigger than this. John realizes this when he sees Abby's face. "There's more," he says, but isn't sure if he will be able to continue.

"John, its okay, I don't need to know." Abby says. _I pushed him too far_, she thinks.

"No, you need to know, and I need to tell you." John says seriously. He is sure about this, he is sure he has to tell Abby, and he is sure she needs to know. He continues. "She cheated on me before she got pregnant."

"But that was years ago."

"I know, but then she wasn't sure if the baby was mine or not, and she never said anything until recently."

"Oh my gosh, why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I didn't want people to know, it's kind of weird. Everyone felt bad for me because I lost a son, but who knows, maybe I didn't."

Abby looks down. She doesn't have a clue what to say. Both of them are quiet for a while. "I should probably get going," Carter says, finally able to speak up. He starts to walk towards the door.

"John, stay. Please," Carter looks at her. "Well we are engaged," she replies. Carter turns around and goes to Abby. They hug, each holding onto each other and never wanting to let go.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20:**

It's a day after Abby found out the truth about Kem and Carter, and she is sitting down doing paperwork because her shift is finally almost over. John was in the back doing suturing or something, but he still had another four hours left of his shift.

Abby looked up. Triage was practically empty, and the patient board had a very little amount of patients on it. It had been a fast and busy day, and things were just beginning to dwindle down. "Is John Carter here?" someone asks. Abby looks up and sees Kem.

"Kem?" Abby says in an angry voice. She glares at Kem, knowing how much pain she had caused Carter. "I don't think you should be here," Abby tells her.

"It doesn't matter what you think," Kem says, as she brushes past Abby to go find Carter. Abby takes off after her.

"You're not allowed to be back here! Security!" Abby yells, but no one comes. Abby runs past Kem and into the suture room where Carter is. She locks the door and leans against it, while Carter wonders why she is acting so strange. "I have to tell you something-" Abby says, but is cut off by Kem screaming "John!"

"She's back," Abby states. Carter sits there dumbfounded. Kem starts knocking on the door loudly.

"Shit!" Carter yells. He sounds angry, but deep inside Abby knows he is in pain.

"John, do you want me to try to get her to leave or something?" Abby asks.

"No, I have to do this," he says, trying to calm down. He heads towards the door and unlocks it. Kem comes barging in. Abby jumps back.

"John I'm sorry!" Kem says, crying. "I didn't mean to cheat on you; it was only a few times!"

Carter isn't buying any of this, and neither is Abby. "Before you said it was only once." Carter says. Kem looks at him with pleading eyes. Carter swallows. "Kem, I broke up with you, I'm with Abby now, and we are happy, and I don't want to be with you anymore, I want to be with her," he says, looking at Abby.

"You're with HER?" Kem asks, staring at Abby in disbelief. Abby looks at Kem, her mouth wide open. She couldn't believe how rude Kem was being, but it was making her angry.

"Yes, Kem he's with me. He's with someone who won't cheat on him; do you have a problem with that?" Kem looks at Abby.

"This is none of your business," Kem says. Abby crosses her arms. She still can't believe Kem came back.

"Kem, it was pointless for you to come here, because I don't want to get back together with you, and I think we would both appreciate it if you would just leave and find a way to move on." Carter says. He walks out of the suture room and Abby follows him. A little while later, Kem leaves.

"Abby, I'm sorry about that."

"John, it wasn't your fault. She screwed up the relationship."

"I know."

"I'm off now, I think I'll go home and make dinner or something, you gonna stay?"

"Yeah, I guess." Carter says as he walks off.

Abby goes to the lounge to go and get her stuff. She decides to take the El home.

Meanwhile, Kem is consumed with anger. She can't believe that he chose Abby over her, so she decides to take matters into her own hands. She knows the only way to get him back is to get rid of the one he wants to be with, then he will have to come back to her. Kem heads over to Abby's apartment. Abby isn't there yet, but the door is unlocked. Kem walks into Abby's apartment. She decides to hide behind Abby's sofa and get her when she comes in.

The El is taking a while because it is backed up with passengers. Abby waits impatiently. Finally she gets on.

Kem waits, and waits. She is getting irritated.

Abby gets off the El and starts walking to her apartment building. She is deciding what to make for dinner. She walks up the stairs and takes the elevator up. She takes out her key and opens up the door. The sound of a gunshot is heard, and then silence. Complete silence.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21:**

About an hour later, Carter is going to Abby's apartment. He sees her apartment door open from the end of the hallway and Max in the hallway, making whimpering sounds. Carter realizes something is wrong, and starts to walk fast towards the open door. "Abby!" he yells. He looks down and sees Abby, covered in blood. He checks her pulse. It is faint. Carter starts cursing. He goes over to the phone to call 911. He knows that Kem must have done this, but she had taken off afterwards.

The ambulance comes to pick up Abby, who is barely clinging onto life. Carter convinces the paramedics to let him ride along with them.

"Trauma coming, eight minutes out." Frank tells the doctors at admit. "GSW," he says, filling them in. Susan, Pratt and some nurses go to get ready for the incoming trauma.

Eight minutes later, the ambulance pulls up to the ambulance bay. Susan runs up and opens the door. She is surprised to see Carter jump out, but is even more surprised to see Abby on the gurney, splattered with blood. "Abby?" she asks as her and some others rush her into a trauma room. Carter follows, trying to control his emotions. He tells the others her vitals. "What happened?" Susan asks as she starts working on Abby.

"Kem happened," Carter replies.

Half an hour later, Abby is intubated, and they are still working on her. They can't find where the bullet hit, and if they don't find out soon, she will have major organ damage.

Carter is talking with the police. He tells them that he thinks it was Kem who did this to Abby. The police make sure that they will find Kem. Carter goes back to the trauma room to see how Abby is doing. "300, clear," he hears before they shock her. "Okay, she's got a pulse," Susan says, "Let's send her up to the OR."

They send Abby up. "Is she gonna be okay?" Carter asks Susan.

"Well we found where the bullet hit," Susan replies.

"I asked if she was gonna be okay."

"Carter, I don't know. I wish I would say she is gonna be okay, but we won't know for a while." Susan says, leaving Carter there staring at the elevator doors that are opening up to send Abby up to the OR.

Carter sits behind the clear glass in the room next to the operating room Abby is in, getting operated on. He had been sitting there for almost an hour, just staring at the floor. He was unable to look up and see how her surgery was doing, but every ten minutes Elizabeth would go on the intercom and tell him everything was going well. He knew this was all his fault. _If only…_ he didn't know what he could've done to prevent this.

"John, everything went well, and we are just stitching her up. She's gonna be fine," Elizabeth tells him in her English accent.

Carter looks up and sees Abby, getting stitched up. He goes and gives Elizabeth a hug and thanks her. "When do you think she will wake up?" he asks.

"Not long, about an hour or two," she tells him. Carter nods. A few minutes later, Abby is being wheeled to a room. Carter follows the nurses wheeling her into room 267. He sits down next to her and holds her hand until she wakes up.

"I'm sorry Abby," he starts to say, but his eyes start to well up with tears. Carter says nothing else until about an hour later, until Abby starts to wake up. "Abby?" he whispers.

She looks over to him. "John, what happened?"

"Why don't you tell me?"

"I don't… I don't remember much… I was going home to make dinner and deciding what to make, and I opened my door, and I heard a gunshot," Abby starts sobbing. "And then I was on the floor, and I could feel blood around me. And then I was kind of out of it, but I heard someone walk over me, and I looked up, and it… it… looked… like…"

"Kem? I know," Carter finishes up for Abby. She is sobbing now.

"John, what'd they do to me?"

"I'm not sure exactly what they did, but you had to get surgery."

"Oh. How much longer?"

"Till what?"

"Till I'm out of here." Carter smiles. He knows Abby is going to be okay, but he doesn't know if Kem will try to hurt her again. He hopes they catch her, and soon.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22:**

A while later, Abby has fallen back asleep. She will have to stay in the hospital for a few more days to make sure she is okay. Carter is sitting next to her, watching her sleep peacefully on the hospital bed. "Hey," he says as Abby sits up, awaking from her sleep.

"Hey. How long was I sleeping?"

"A few hours," he replies.

"Oh, what time is it?"

"Three."

Abby rubs her eyes. "Carter, why are you still here?"

"Abs, do you really need to ask that? Cause I love you, and I want to make sure you are okay." Abby smiles, but then frowns.

"Did they find anything about…" she starts to say, but a tear starts to drip down her face.

"Not yet, the police are on it," he tells her. Abby wipes the tear away. "You okay?" he asks her.

"Yeah, it's just… it's just…" she starts to cry. Carter goes over to her, and Abby wraps her arms around him and sobs, her tears staining his shoulder. He can't believe he let this happen to her. Abby sits there crying, and when Carter starts to pull away, she just holds on tighter.

"Abby, are you sure you're okay?" he asks, still holding onto her.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I'm gonna be fine," she assures him, as her sobs start to slow down and she lets him go. He hands her a tissue and she wipes her eyes. He kisses her forehead, and then leaves the room to find out if the police had found anything out yet.

Carter goes to the phone and dials the police station of the officer who had first interview him about the case. Someone picks up. "Hello, this is Dr. Carter, I was wondering if there was any new information on the Abby Lockhart case." There's silence but you can hear the officer mumbling something through the phone. "Well, yes I understand it's late, but I would just like to know if there was any info…" The officer tells Carter that someone will come down to the hospital in the morning to fill him in on everything. Carter doesn't feel like arguing, so he goes back to Abby's room and waits for morning to come.

At around eight, an officer comes down to Abby's room. Carter and Abby both greet him, then Carter steps out of the room to go talk to the officer in private, leaving Abby there to wonder what they are talking about. "Well, Dr. Carter, we have some good news. It seems this Makemba person was leaving the airport, when security picked her up. Realized she fit the description and picture going around. So, we have arrested her and she is in the police's custody. She admitted to shooting Dr. Lockhart, so a trial will be set up soon to settle everything."

"Wow, thanks officer, I don't know what to say," Carter says, shaking the officer's hand. They talk a little more about the trial, and the officer leaves and Carter goes to tell Abby the good news.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23:**

"Dr. Lockhart, can you tell us exactly what happened when you walked into your apartment?" asked a lawyer. It was about a month after the incident, because they wanted to do the trial as soon as possible. The trail was coming to an end today, and they were just finishing up with some quick questions.

Abby stands up. "Um, I opened the door, and then I heard a gun shot, I looked up and the bullet hit me, and I fell to the ground."

"Okay, thank you."

"Ms. Makemba Likasu, can you tell us what happened when Dr. Lockhart walked into her apartment?" Kem stood up. She was quiet.

"She was shot at." Kem pauses. "By me," she finishes.

"Okay, thank you. The jury will go and make their decision."

"Wait!" Carter says. Everyone looks at him, as he stands up. "We don't want to press charges."

"What?" the judge questions, bewildered.

"Kem was upset. Putting her in jail or making her do community service won't prevent her from hurting Abby again or in a few years. A restraining order would be just fine."

"Okay the jury will take that into consideration," Judge Matthews says, looking at the jury. The jury walks out of the courtroom. Abby and Carter decide to go get a quick coffee before the jury comes back with the verdict. They go out to the coffee stand on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse. Carter gets two coffees and hands one to Abby.

"So, it's finally over," He says, sipping his coffee.

"Yeah." Abby says. She is happy it is over too. She personally didn't care what happened to Kem. If it was up to her, she wouldn't have even gone to court, but considering she was shot, they had no choice. "That was nice," Abby comments. Carter looks at her. "We both know Kem's not a bad person, so it was nice to say that about just giving her a restraining order." Carter nods. They both just want Kem out of Chicago.

"So you think she's over you now?"

"Yeah, I mean I talked to her about it. She seems fine. She's going back to Africa."

Abby looks at her watch. "We should probably be heading back," she says. Carter takes her hand and they walk up to the courthouse.

They go in and sit down, and a few minutes later the jury comes back in having made their final decision.

The head member of the jury stands up. Everyone looks over at him, as he begins to speak. "We have gone over the case and Dr. Carter's wishes, and the jury has decided that there will be a permanent restraining order against Makemba Likasu. The details of the order will be decided in a private meeting with Ms. Likasu, and Dr. Lockhart and Dr. Carter will be informed on the details once they are decided."

The judge nods and dismisses the court. Abby and Carter leave to head for County, because they both have a shift. They get in Carter's jeep and start to drive to the hospital. "So who's place tonight?" Abby asks, because lately the two of them have been staying over each other's places every night.

"Actually, I think we should talk about that," Carter says, while turning left. Abby gives him a weird look, and he starts to explain. "Abby we are engaged. We spend every night at my place or yours. Wouldn't it be easier if maybe you just moved into my place?" Abby starts to consider this and is quiet for a while. "If you think it's too soon then-"

"No, it makes sense but," Abby pauses.

"But what?"

"I thought we would get married first," Abby is silent for a moment. "We are gonna get married right?"

"Abs, of course. Why did you think I asked you to marry me?" Abby smiles. "And if you want to get married before you move in then that's fine," he adds in.

"No. I want to move in," she decides. Carter smiles. "Now," she says, clarifying it.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24:**

On his lunch break, Carter goes to get boxes for Abby's "packing party" as she put it. He comes into the ER carrying a pile of folded up cardboard.

"That's a lot of boxes," Abby remarks.

"You have a lot of stuff," Carter replies.

Abby and Carter's shifts end, and they carry the cardboard to Carter's Jeep. "You sure about this?" he asks her.

"We already have the boxes."

"I take that as a yes," he says as he gets into the Jeep to drive to Abby's place. For some reason Abby wanted to pack now, probably because she wanted to move as soon as possible. The ride there is quiet, and when they finally arrive, Abby jumps out of the car and runs to the back to get the boxes.

"Someone's excited." Carter remarks.

Abby smiles and grabs the boxes and starts skipping to the door. Carter follows her, laughing. "I should be excited," Abby responds. "We are celebrating being done in court and having a packing party." Carter shakes his head and grins as he follows Abby up to her apartment.

Abby pauses at the door. She doesn't seem as happy anymore. "You okay?" Carter asks her.

"Yeah, yeah, it's just…" Abby stutters as she opens the door and steps in. "I'm glad to finally be leaving this place. Every time I open the door it reminds me of…" she stops and takes a deep breath. Carter understands.

Abby goes to her room to start packing her clothes and stuff, and Carter volunteers to take Max out. A few minutes later, Carter comes in being dragged by Max. He takes Max off the leash and he goes bounding in towards Abby. "Max," Abby whines as he starts licking her face. Carter walks in to see if Abby needs any help with anything. "I guess you can start packing stuff from the bathroom closet and stuff, cause I don't need that stuff anytime soon," she tells him as he walks over and grabs some cardboard boxes and heads over to Abby's bathroom.

He opens up the bathroom closet and starts packing Abby's towels, sheets, and everything. It isn't until a little later that he finds it. He picks up the box and looks at it, it looks new. Just bought. He goes over to Abby's trash can to see if maybe one is in it, but the trash can is empty. He doesn't know what to do. Should he confront Abby about this? After a few minutes of just standing there, Abby walks in. He is still holding the box. Abby sees what he's holding, and tries to explain. "John-"

"Well, are you?" he asks.

"No, it was negative. I thought I was."

Carter places the box of pregnancy tests down. He doesn't know what to really say. "When?" he asks.

"About a week or two ago," Abby admits.

Carter sighs. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't know. I didn't think it was that important because I wasn't pregnant."

Carter looks at her. "Well it's important to me. I don't want to be left out of things like that. I want to be part of things."

Abby looks at him. She smiles. "Okay," she says and goes over to hug him. Carter hugs her back, and they stay like that for a while, until Abby lets go and goes back to her room to finish packing.

"Hey Abs,"

"Yea?"

"If you were pregnant, you would tell me, right?"

"Of course," she responds.

"Just checking," he says as he continues to pack stuff.

_A week later…_

The large moving truck filled with Abby's furniture and boxes pulls up to Carter's house. The mover's start to unload the boxes and furniture, while Abby directs them where to put everything. Once everything is out of the truck, the movers leave and Abby and Carter stare at the mass of boxes everywhere. "Now what?" Abby asks.

"We unpack."

"Why did I agree to move in with you again?"

"Cause you love me."

"Oh, yeah. I guess we should unpack now," she says not wanting to deny the inevitable.

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"You know…" Carter starts to say.

"The boxes will still be here tomorrow," Abby says, finishing up Carter's sentence.

"Yeah."

"So we can just…" Abby begins.

"Unpack tomorrow?" Carter suggests.

"Yeah," Abby says, running upstairs. Carter follows, chasing after her. Abby runs faster, racing up the steps and runs into the bedroom, and they both collapse on the bed.

The next morning, Abby wakes up and goes downstairs to make breakfast. She sees all the boxes and wonders why they didn't start unpacking earlier, because it was going to take forever. She goes over to one of the boxes and opens it up, revealing a picture of her and Carter when they first started dating, from about five years ago. She picks it up and goes to the family room and places it above the fireplace. It fits there perfectly. A little while later, when Carter goes downstairs, he eyes the picture. He looks at it and notes at how perfect it looks there. He looks around the rest of the top of the fireplace, which has nothing else on it. _Soon it will be filled with more pictures, pictures of Abby and me, and pictures of our family, pictures of our children_, he thinks quietly as he walks out of the room, stealing one quick last glance at the photo.


End file.
